Vertigo/G
Gary Lester Gary Lester's mother always wanted him to make something of himself. She wanted him to grow up to become someone important, like a doctor. Instead, he became a close friend with a young boy named John Constantine. Mrs. Lester never cared for John, and felt that the young rogue was a bad influence on Gary. Gary never became a doctor as his mother wanted, but instead turned his attention towards art. This proved to be of transitory interest to him however, and he dropped out of art school in order to concentrate on more entertaining hobbies. Reuniting with John, Gary decided to try his hand at music. In 1977, Gary and John attended a Sex Pistols concert at the Roxy nightclub in London. The experience inspired them to create their own band. Together with a drummer named Beano and manager Dean Motter, they created the punk rock band known as Mucous Membrane. Mucous Membrane was not particularly memorable, but they did succeed in releasing one single entitled Venus of the Hardsell. They also created an amateur film as a backdrop for the song and in so doing, created one of the world's first music videos. After playing a few gigs in the Northumberland area, the band soon broke up. Although Mucous Membrane's success was fleeting, Gary and John remained close friends. Gemma Masters Gemma Masters is the daughter of Tony and Cheryl Masters, and the niece of John Constantine. When Gemma was ten-years-old, her parents Tony and Cheryl converted to the puritanical faith of Elder Martin and his Resurrection Crusaders. As missionaries, the Masters sold Pyramid prayer books to the locals of Merseyside. Gemma grew frustrated with her parents' strange behavior and ran away from home. She found three girls, only a few years older than she, who professed to be the Brides of "The Man". The Man was in fact an agent of the Damnation Army. The girls took Gemma in, and brainwashed her into becoming The Man's newest bride. Gemma's uncle John Constantine learned that his niece had disappeared and worked with a young woman named Zed to track her down. They discovered the Man's wedding chapel, and John rescued Gemma before she could come to any harm. Gino Gino was a street vendor in New York City, New York. He operated his stand fairly close to the United States Post Office. One of his regular customers was USPS employee Henry Wambach. Henry had become the first stateside victim of the hunger spirit known as Mnemoth, who filled him with an all-consuming and insatiable hunger. Henry ran up to Gino's cart demanding six Mighty Mouthful burgers. Gino asked him if he had skipped lunch. Grimorium Verum The Grimorium Verum is an arcane book of mystical incantations. Found within its pages is an alphabetized list of rituals used to summon demons. In 1978, John Constantine used the Grimorium Verum in an effort to summon the demon Sagatana. It was his hope that he could force Sagatana to destroy another entity known as the Norfulthing. However, John mis-spoke the incantation, and instead summoned the demon Nergal.